Black Skylands is an immersive fantasy skypunk RPG that takes place in the colorful airborne landscapes of another world. As an indie gamer, this is indeed one of the most optimistic projects I’ve looked at, and yet very promising indeed. Take the helm of a family airship and float between islands in the sky to claim your stake. I revisited this game in 2023 after a couple of years to see how it…
Getting started with Potion Craft can be intriguing and fun but also confusing–by nature. The game features role playing game elements mixed with strategy and casual gameplay. It’s one of the hottest games out there for alchemy sims, but quickly has become a diverse favorite for gamers. I’ve taken some time to compile some tips and tricks I think are essential to the full release version of this game and will guide you…
Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok is a ride and a vibe–or whatever these new Midgardians call things. It was a great time trying the early access on Steam, and I’ll tell you about it. This is a passive auto-combat… roguelike–it’s a Vampire Survivors type game basically. Overall, these are good fun, and anybody can play them with a little familiarity with the genre. In this one, you play a Viking warrior (is that…
The game Moonlighter is a combination of rogue-lite dungeon-crawler mixed with trade simulation and story-rich RPG elements. This timeless, beautifully rendered pixel top-down was released by Digital Sun in 2018, and the game is available on most platforms like PC & Nintendo Switch.Moonlighter is a story about hopeful adventurer Will, a shopkeeper in the small commercial town of Rynoka. Although his family’s shop offers stability and prosperity, it is sustained by the materials…
Let’s take a look at Mago: The Villain’s Burger. It’s filled with so many fun easy-to-learn but masterable abilities and unique mechanics that you just don’t find in every game. The best way to understand it is most likely visually, but today I’ll be talking about why Mago is a promising look at how its developers are creating something that is, possibly, capable of going big if they wish. So, let’s get started.…
Today, I plunged headfirst into the free games pile of new releases over on the Steam store. On my arrival, I discovered a cozy little visual novel among the listings called Fayburrow, and I decided to take a look at it. Fayburrow is a free game created by the self-named “Fayburrow Troupe” at VIA University College in Denmark. It just hit the Steam store today. What was first intrigue, turned into a fascination…
Amongst the trove of pale-skinned characters, glowing misty caverns, and punchy character abilities, this one might be new to you. Greak: Memories of Azur is similar to platformers like Hollow Knight and Undertale, perhaps even Ori or maybe Hoa, sure. Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of any of those! What Greak offers is a borderline cozy adventure with very unique, engaging gameplay that is an experience of its own. Greak, Adara, and…
Beacon Pines is interactive fiction, but really it qualifies with a new level of cozy interaction and fathoms deep optimistic complexity to its characters. The basic structure of the story relies on an interesting plot device made of… well, plot devices! You start in a storybook tale of a young fawn, though I’d say that’s up for interpretation, named Luka at his grandmother’s. Through exploration and experimentation and interacting with those around you…
Hoa is an intricate hand-painted character and environment art platformer released this week. Visually it succeeds wonderfully with Studio Ghibli-like aesthetics in illustration, animation, and special effects. It also boasts an absolutely charming ambiance in its background music plus sound effects that are cinematic in quality and effect. It also is available in 10 different languages right from its launch. I feel very relaxed playing Hoa, and even watching someone playing it can…
Dark Dragonkin is an indie dev project from Twintertainment that is a top-down pixelized fantasy RPG/dungeon-crawler. Players control multiple characters in a group to make them work together to defeat enemies and advance the story. This game is still deep in the dev process with a potential audience of RPG fans and general indie gamers. It feels very attended to as a solo dev project though, and the potential to scale abilities and…
Twin Stones: The Journey of Bukka is a 3d animated fantasy platformer that was released in early July 2021. As it were, I received the privilege of showcasing my first pre-release game through my community at Indie Game Collective. The game was a very intriguing story involving protagonist Bukka, a runner for lack of a better word, and a, I suppose, serpent companion identified as Shiva, the god of destruction. The obstacles are…
A Cottage Story is an indie fantasy-style visual novel currently in development by indie developer LadyMeowsith on itch.IO. The theme is what is described as, “Cottage-Core.” You’ll play as Emory, or whichever moniker you choose. Your form is selectable as well. You are a human/changeling grown up far away from humans. You live within a fantastic forest of goblins, satyrs, elves, and maybe more. Meet characters and treat their ailments by mastering herbalism…
Beasts of Maravilla Island is a mindful and progressive concept revolving around the science, hobby, and storytelling of isolated ecosystems and their sometimes astonishing, in this case even magical, discoveries. It’s a game about collecting documentation and exploring the flora and fauna of an environment, where combat or violent interaction is non-existent. I wish I could say non-violence in games is more common, but games are still in the formative years of non-violence,…
Phoenotopia is more than a cozy pixel-art game about a hero with pink hair. There are some pretty deep theme but also pleasant gameplay. For a sample, a group in Phoenotopia known as the last councils decide the fate of humanity. This game has emotional and philosophical depth. But once again, it’s buffered with some enjoyable run and jump platforming. In my playtest of the demo, I enjoyed the open world environment and…
The Last Campfire is a sincerely knowing guide to the heart. It’s a genuine roleplay in what it means to feel an idea of spiritual compassion or to know what it is to be kind. That’s a rare topic in any context. A character named Ember holds the key to bringing light again to an in-between world. You may be hesitant about such a task, maybe the path is unclear. The spirits of…
